The Pope County Election Commission met Monday to prepare for the referendum election regarding a zoning ordinance that provides for the construction of a Walmart Neighborhood Market.

Commissioners soon found that the processes for setting up such an election are not clear, as state law does not outline the process for a municipal referendum election. The state does, however, give guidelines for county-level elections, which can be used as a guideline for municipal elections.

The commission found no reason to alter the Aug. 13 election date set forth in the petition and made a motion to allow Election Coordinator Sherry Polsgrove to proceed with preparations for the election.

Next commissioners began discussions on how much voting equipment will be necessary for the election as well as how many poll workers will be required and how many ballots to order.

Polsgrove said normally the commission can look to past elections to determine how many ballots to order, but there has not been a comparable election since the recent redistricting process.

Commissioners each had differing opinions on how many paper ballots to order. Carol Shoptaw noted paper ballots were only one option for voting, and in the event paper ballots ran short in any particular precinct, voters could still cast a ballot electronically.

“If we run out of paper ballots, it’s not like they won’t be able to vote,” she said. Altogether, there are 14,663 voters registered within the city limits. The deadline to register to vote in the special election is July 15.

A second meeting was conducted Monday to attempt to clarify procedures. In addition to members of the Election Commission, also in attendance was Mayor Bill Eaton, City Attorney Trey Smith and Richard Peel, who was identified as a sponsor of the referendum petition.

The gathering was brief and reiterated points from the earlier meeting.

The Election Commission consists of chairperson Catherine Leapheart, Portia Short and Carol Shoptaw.